Among other things, it shows how you can use face markings to tell us individual tompot blennies apart.
As you can see from the photo I have an angular sloping ‘M’ shape mark just under my eye and my photographer and marine biologist Paul Naylor uses this face marking as well as others on the front and other side of my face to be sure it is me he is looking at! He has recently realised we are all different and has built up a collection of ‘mug shots’ (photographs) for all the tompot blennies that he sees regularly on my reef. Being able to name each of us by our face markings has made it easier for him to understand our behaviour.
Paul now knows we have fights over territory and females, we can stay in our crevice homes for at least 4 years and I have guarded the eggs of several different females for at least 2 years. This information has just been published by him and David Jacoby (Zoological Society London) in the Journal of Fish Biology. So I’m now an important research fish too!
This link will take you to a slideshow that tells you more about it: wtru.st